Korean Pharmaceutical and Biotech Global Technology Exports Surpass 13 Trillion Won in First Half

Surpassing 12 Trillion Won in the First Half of Last Year

In the first half of this year, South Korean pharmaceutical and biotech companies have demonstrated their competitiveness by consecutively signing global technology export agreements.

According to the industry on June 4, a total of eight major global technology transfer agreements have been signed by domestic companies from January until now. Excluding one contract with undisclosed terms, the cumulative value amounts to $8,516.75 million (approximately 13.0732 trillion won). This surpasses the previous record of about $8 billion (12.276 trillion won) set in the first half of last year, as several trillion-won mega deals in just the past two months have driven the overall scale higher.

Platform technologies with universal applications across a range of indications, rather than just specific diseases, have shown remarkable progress. Alteogen, which possesses a platform for switching to subcutaneous injection formulations, has received successive interest from multinational pharmaceutical companies. Early this year, it signed a technology export agreement with GSK subsidiary Tesaro worth $265 million (about 40.67 billion won), securing an upfront payment of $20 million (about 3.07 billion won). Additionally, it succeeded in signing an exclusive license agreement with Biogen worth $549 million (about 84.27 billion won). Noteworthy achievements have also been made in transferring infrastructure between countries and overcoming rare diseases. SK Plasma transferred its entire plasma fractionation technology to Türkiye’s Proturk for 65 million euros (about 11.57 billion won), opening the door to local production. PRGS&Tech also successfully exported a candidate therapy for pediatric progeria to Sentinel Therapeutics in the United States.

Significant achievements have also emerged in the fields of central nervous system and ophthalmic diseases, which are considered intractable. Aribio transferred the rights for its oral Alzheimer’s treatment to China’s Fuxing Pharma, closing the largest deal of the first half at $4.7 billion (about 7.2145 trillion won). The upfront payment alone was about $140 million (about 210 billion won). Curacle, which has focused on ophthalmic diseases, also transferred a dual-antibody candidate for retinal disorders to Memento Medicines in the United States for $1,077.75 million (about 1.6543 trillion won) in partnership with co-developer Maptics, earning high recognition for its new drug value.

Pipelines targeting the metabolic and autoimmune disease markets have also been chosen by global pharmaceutical giants. Hanmi Pharm handed over a GLP-2 based candidate for short bowel syndrome to Eli Lilly for $1.26 billion (about 1.9341 trillion won), of which $75 million (about 115.1 billion won) will be received as an upfront payment. Oscotec also entered into a license-out agreement with Agios Pharmaceuticals in the United States worth $665 million (about 1.0207 trillion won) for candidate therapies targeting immune thrombocytopenia and rheumatoid arthritis.

Beyond simple technology transfers, companies are taking steps to enhance their corporate value in various ways. Qurevo, the U.S. affiliate of GC Green Cross, was acquired by Eli Lilly for up to $1.5 billion (about 2.3025 trillion won), recognizing the potential of its next-generation shingles vaccine candidate. D&D Pharmatech, which is targeting the challenging metabolic-related NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis) market, achieved superior composite endpoint improvements over placebo in a U.S. Phase 2 clinical trial with tissue biopsy. Olix, which owns platform technology, secured funding of 110 billion won from investors including the L'Oréal Group venture fund, further strengthening its research capabilities.

An industry official stated, "Given the difficulty of exploring new targets and the risks of clinical failure, the current trend among global pharmaceutical giants is to focus on acquiring late-stage development assets with proven efficacy and safety, rather than early-stage compounds. This trend is likely to continue for the time being," adding, "The partnering achievements of domestic companies with strong clinical data in the second half of the year are also highly anticipated."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.